Dan Hodges is a former Labour Party and GMB trade union official, and has managed numerous independent political campaigns. He writes about Labour with tribal loyalty and without reservation. You can read Dan's recent work here

What does Baroness Warsi actually want from the Government on Israel and Gaza?

As I write, Britain’s ceasefire in Gaza is holding. British troops have withdrawn. The RAF has ceased its bombing runs. The Royal Navy’s guns have fallen silent.

That’s correct, isn’t it? When Baroness Warsi condemned our “morally indefensible” actions over Gaza, actions that were “neither consistent with our values, specifically our commitment to the rule of law and our long history of support for International Justice” that’s what she was talking about, right? The carnage we have witnessed over the past month has all been the fault of the British government. It must have been. That can be the only explanation for why British ministers are resigning. And why they’re being praised for their principled action in newspapers as diverse as The Guardian and the Sun.

Looking at headlines this morning, I was reminded of headlines from just under a year ago. The headlines that followed in the wake of the Syria vote.

The backdrop to that vote had also been one of unspeakable horror. Lifeless children. Rubble-strewn streets. A massacre of the innocents.

But back then the arguments were different. It was morally indefensible, we were told, that our government was seeking to intervene. Syria was a far-off place, of which we knew little. What was happening was terrible, but it wasn’t our conflict. If we chose to take a side, who precisely would we be siding with? They could be terrorists. We would reap a whirlwind of radicalisation back home.

Yesterday I read, and then reread, Baroness Warsi’s resignation letter. And it left me asking this question: what, precisely, does she – and her newfound body of supporters – think the British Government’s policy on Gaza should actually be?

Up until 21 days ago, by Warsi’s own admission, British foreign policy was on track. “William Hague was probably one of the finest Foreign Secretaries this country has seen and has been inspirational. He dismantled foreign policy making by sofa government and restored decision making and dignity to the Foreign Office,” she wrote.

So whatever happened to stir her conscience happened in the past three weeks. Over, as Warsi herself outlines, “our approach and language during the current crisis in Gaza”.

Britain’s approach to the crisis has been clear. It’s urged both sides to implement a ceasefire, and abide by international law. Israel agreed to several ceasefires. Hamas unilaterally broke them. What would Warsi have her government do? Condemn Israel even though it was Hamas who was breaching the very ceasefire the government had been demanding?

Speaking to Channel 4 News, Warsi attacked what she called ministers' “mealy-mouthed” statements on the issue. But on Sunday David Cameron specifically endorsed UN criticism of Israel. “I think the UN is right to speak out in the way that it has because international law is very clear that there mustn't be the targeting of civilians or the targeting of schools, if that's what's happened,” he said. Earlier in the week new Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond talked of the “intolerable” situation in Gaza. “There must be a humanitarian ceasefire that is without conditions,” he told the Telegraph. “We have to get the killing to stop.”

What Baroness Warsi is effectively saying is that she would like to see ministers, including the Prime Minister, openly siding with Hamas – an internationally proscribed terrorist organisation – against Israel, an independent, democratic state and long-standing UK ally. And that they should do so at a time when Israel is facing a sustained rocket assault that no democratic Western state – no state, period – would tolerate.

And to what end? Warsi herself concedes the Government has been actively trying to get Israel to halt its military offensive. “I think it's a sincerely held view that the best way to resolve this matter is to be as accommodating as possible to the Israeli government, to seek influence with them and through that to try and move them to a more positive decision. I'm not sure that policy is working.”

But how does she know that policy hasn’t worked? She chose to submit her resignation on the day Israel announced it was withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and began implementing a new ceasefire. How does she know that wasn’t as a result of private pressure being brought by Britain and Israel’s other allies? And if Warsi does believe Britain’s quiet diplomacy has been ineffective, what on earth makes her think screaming “murderers!” at Israel will have the desired result?

Similarly, what is it – aside from words – Baroness Warsi thinks the Government should be doing? Introduce an arms embargo on Israel? Lift the blockade? In other words, deny Israel the right of self-defence while granting Hamas the opportunity to rearm itself?

Even the Labour Party hasn’t called for an arms embargo. “Ministers have a responsibility to reassure the British people that all UK arms export licenses are rigidly tested against both the spirit and the letter of the consolidated criteria,” was as far as Douglas Alexander would go yesterday. And Ed Miliband has repeatedly stated his opposition to a boycott of Israel in other areas.

So why exactly does Baroness Warsi think British ministers should be making these condemnatory statements? The answer – and it’s a staggering one – lies at the bottom of he resignation letter. “Early evidence from the Home Office and others shows that the fallout of the current conflict and the potential for the crisis in Gaza and our response to it becoming a basis for radicalisation could have consequences for us for years to come,” she wrote.

We should condemn Israel because if we don’t, people will start planting bombs here in the UK. Or, to put it another way, we should give succour to the terrorists targeting Israel so that we can prevent ourselves becoming the target of terrorism.

What kind of logic is that? Indeed, what kind of morality is that? And this is from a woman who until yesterday was a Foreign Office minister.

Some people believe, like me, that Hamas are primarily responsible for Gaza’s pain. Others blame Israel. Fine. We can argue that. But what can’t be argued is that the crisis is the result of some failure of moral leadership on the part of David Cameron and his ministers.

A year ago, when Syria burned, we turned our back. And we applauded ourselves for it. Baroness Warsi’s words will do nothing to help the children of Gaza. Nor will anyone else’s.

We are a powerless country, in a powerless world. And that’s the way we like it.